


Melatonin

by Rhadamantelope



Category: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Space Odyssey Series - Arthur C. Clarke
Genre: Android!Hal, Domestic Fluff, Insomnia, Jetlag, M/M, domestic AU, or spacelag? idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 19:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3822415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhadamantelope/pseuds/Rhadamantelope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave Bowman hasn’t slept for a month, and Hal isn’t about to let him undergo yet another sleepless night. Not alone, anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Melatonin

**Author's Note:**

> Shameless domestic au and android!Hal. They live in Urbana or something I guess. Hal works at University of Illinois and Dave is still an astronaut.

The supplement had a flavor caught halfway between a cheap strawberry milkshake and sidewalk chalk, but Dave didn’t take much notice. He swallowed and turned over the bottle of melatonin tablets, eyes scanning over the warnings and dietary facts. None of the information was really sinking in; he set it down and exited the bathroom.

He had seriously underestimated the damage that several months in space could do to one’s circadian rhythm, and hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep for nearly a month since returning to Earth. Frank had suggested the melatonin supplements; “Works like some kind of magic,” he had said. “Took ‘em for a couple weeks and I got almost a full six hours a night from then on.”

Dave had been taking the pills for about a week, and had yet to see a change. He was beginning to suspect that Frank had been high on caffeine when he had told him, and couldn’t tell the difference between genuine and artificial cognizance.

“You look dreadful.” Dave rubbed his eyes. Hal sat on the bed, head to one side. “How have you been sleeping, Dave?”

“Same as I have been since I got off that damn ship,” Dave said. “Now get up, don’t you need to finish something for Dr. Chandra? A paper or something?”

The android blinked.

“No, Dave. I don’t currently have any assignments from Dr. Chandra. Why do you ask?”

Dave ran his hands down his face.

“Because I need to go to sleep, Hal. You don’t need sleep, so please go…do something else. I’m so tired.”

Hal gazed at the pillows pensively before standing up.

“Of course. Sorry.”

“It’s okay…” Dave sighed as Hal padded over and brushed his lips against Dave’s forehead. He watched the android leave silently, and collapsed on the bed.

And Dave Bowman waited to fall asleep, but no matter how badly he wanted (or needed, for that matter) to sleep, he couldn’t. Every little noise, every light from the city streets outside the apartment, grabbed his attention and made it impossible for him to shut his heavy eyes for more than ten minutes at a time. He stared at the digital clock on the nightstand. He wasn’t sure when he had gotten into bed, but he was fairly certain it was nowhere near one in the morning. Groaning, he pulled at the covers and rolled over, only to find himself staring into a pair of glowing red eyes.

It took Dave a few seconds to fully process and react to what he was looking at. At first, he assumed it was some sort of hallucination that had resulted from how tired he was, but his mind very quickly jumped to the conclusion that it must be some demon or alien straight out of a horror movie. (Damn, why had he decided to watch so many of those over the past couple weeks?) It wasn’t until he had fallen out of bed with a yelp of “Jesus Christ!” did he realize that Hal had made his way back into the bedroom at some point.

Hal reached over and turned on a lamp. He peered over the side of the bed in concern, as Dave lay crouched defensively on the floor.

“I apologize,” he said weakly. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Dave breathed, clamoring back onto the bed. Hal glanced aside and clenched his gloved hands on his thighs. “You can’t just do that, you know. You can’t just come in and lean over me while I sleep, especially if I don’t know. It’s goddamn terrifying! No offense, though, you’re not terrifying. Just…seeing that…in the middle of the night…”

“You’re rambling, Dave.”

“I know, Hal. I’m tired.”

“Yes, I realize that.” There was a hint of annoyance in his tone that surprised Dave. Hal closed his eyes for a moment and pushed his scarlet bangs back, clearly distressed. “That’s why…just, let me sleep with you tonight. I understand it’s not a real treatment in the least, but…if it makes you feel better, I’d like to try.”

“Really? That’s what this is about? You wanna have se–”

“No, not like that.” Hal’s abnormally pale face turned almost as red as his hair. His hands were still balled into fists against his legs. Dave raised an eyebrow; he was so painfully tired that even that felt like a chore.

“Hal, you don’t need to sleep. That’s…so illogical.”

The android shrugged.

“I don’t…like seeing you like this,” he said. “And it’s not as though it could be a very difficult task to adapt to, even if I have never technically needed to before.”

Dave smiled and laid back down. Hal quickly switched off the light and joined him. Though the lights and noises from outside still kept him awake, Dave found it comforting to have the taller figure behind him in such close proximity. After a few minutes, he felt Hal very tentatively put an arm around him. He found that Hal was surprisingly warm and smiled, eyelids drooping.

He turned and tucked his head under Hal’s chin, enjoying the warmth emanating from the android’s body. Hal pulled back slightly, but soon relaxed, fingers running up and down the astronaut’s back.

“Your dopamine levels are…rather high,” he observed quietly. Dave’s grin widened against his neck.

“Why do you think that is?”

“I have a hunch that I would say is likely eighty-two point five percent accurate.”

Dave closed his eyes as the heat rose to his cheeks. He tried to form a witty reply to Hal’s remark, but instead felt himself slipping out of consciousness as his breathing fell in line with the computerized pulse against him


End file.
